Thread: Equipment Dealers

Do I have exceptionally lousy luck or is this experience commonplace? My list of dealers that I am willing to do business with is shrinking. Over the course of the past few months I've contacted local dealers (by phone and by foot) for various pieces of equipment. The equipment has all been in the 10-25k range. Typically I have found the salespeople to be friendly with poor follow-through. I walked in to one dealer whose salesperson didn't have the interest to demo the equipment or even crunch numbers...give me your info and I'll get back to you. Perhaps when I'm in front of you, NOW would be the time to pursue the sale??? By phone, the common one is the salesperson who is going to check what is on the lot or due in and will call back before (fill in the time or date). Hey, pal. I didn't force a deadline on you, but now that you told me when you would call...OWN UP.
I don't want to come across as petty or as having unrealistic expectations, but with $$$ exiting my wallet, I would like to see a dealer show interest before the sale as reassurance of service after the sale.

What type of equipment are you in the makret for? I find the vast majority of equipment dealers to be anything you want them to be to get a sale....It is how many act after the sale that I don't understand.

Earlier this year I was searching for a NH Boomer and was completely turned off by the largest NH dealer in my area. The past few weeks I have been on the quest for a mini-ex. I do my research pretty thoroughly and in general know what I'm interested in before I call around. I have found that some dealers are very accomodating and have done well for me. They just are not the dealers most convenient to get to.

I have to admit I'm fairly fortunate, I have a John Deere (construction equipment) dealer, a Case dealer and a Cat dealerall within 15 minutes of my place (they are all within a couple miles of each other to boot.) Even better is the fact that they are all good to deal with, I've dealt with them all in some form or another.....(the CAT dealer allows our local Radio Control car club use of space for a track even.)

Chances are if I buy anything in the next while it will be from the CAT dealer...I like the machines, and the support. They also have a rental outlet there that I use a lot, if I need something now that's usually where I rent from.

Our Cat dealer is GREAT! I have to rent a 312 next week to do a job for a couple days. Our sales guy that sold us our machine also does rental as well, so when I need a machine to rent he always works with me to get it exactly when and where I need it. Turns out the price on a 312 went up from $425 a day to $460 and he said he'd give it to me for $425 just because we deal with them so much. I called today and turns out they don't have a 312 for me next week, it's been way busy around here and so he's giving me a 315 for the same price of a 312, $425 a day.

It's things like that that make me go back to Cat each and every time we need to purchase a piece or just to rent. There's no BS and as long as I give them at least a couple days notice, they have a rental machine when and where I need it, no questions asked. I get service and parts when I need it and I'm never more than 1 phone call away from my "go to man", our sales guy takes care of everything for us and I have to say that our dealer, NC Machinery here in WA has been spectacular as usual.

I judge a company by how well they respond to my needs and not how far the dealer is from my base. The reason trucks have wheels is so they can deliver and respond when necessary, and any Caterpillar dealership I have ever used nation wide will respond to those needs better than a dealer right next door. For things such as filters, I just call in an order and they ship to our door and since we place our equipment on pretty agressive PM programs, we stock the stuff that needs to be changed frequently....

As far as off brand equipment, new brand equipment, equipment that is an old company but new in that type of market, they all promise the sun and moon. When it comes time to service you when you are down, they consider tomorrow as acceptable, while Caterpillar considers an hour away the norm.

They completely understand that down time means lost money and respect the fact that it is easy to take money upon sale, and alot harder to service you after that sale. No one can compete with Caterpillars service record. And that is all that matters. My yellow iron keeps digging dirt, and bills keep going out, and we contiunally break previous year margins. That is what has kept me going to Caterpillar for 30 plus years, 85 years if you include my uncles company.

BobcatS250, Lewis moved all their operations to their Crystal Lake location. My experience with Lewis service and parts is terrific. When the Boomer went for its 300hr service, that is where I went. I have actually moved from MG to Sycamore. I know you are younger, but did you go to Glenbrook or Maine?
As far as the mini ex, I'm in the used market. Spoke with Atlas. They returned call a few days later and offered a couple of grey-market machines. No thanks. Volvo, receptionist took info. Salesperson called same day. I explained what I was looking for. He told me he would need to check around and would call back the following day. Do you think he called?
Anyhow, tested a low hour KX41 yesterday. Too small. I will be testing a mid 90's 325 over the weekend.

Our Cat dealer is GREAT! I have to rent a 312 next week to do a job for a couple days. Our sales guy that sold us our machine also does rental as well, so when I need a machine to rent he always works with me to get it exactly when and where I need it. Turns out the price on a 312 went up from $425 a day to $460 and he said he'd give it to me for $425 just because we deal with them so much. I called today and turns out they don't have a 312 for me next week, it's been way busy around here and so he's giving me a 315 for the same price of a 312, $425 a day.

It's things like that that make me go back to Cat each and every time we need to purchase a piece or just to rent. There's no BS and as long as I give them at least a couple days notice, they have a rental machine when and where I need it, no questions asked. I get service and parts when I need it and I'm never more than 1 phone call away from my "go to man", our sales guy takes care of everything for us and I have to say that our dealer, NC Machinery here in WA has been spectacular as usual.

I've had lots of similar experience with the local CAT dealer here, I often rented 216 ssl's, last 2 or 3 times they gave me 226's for the same price as the 216. One time when I went to pick up a machine they hadn't got it cleaned yet, they gave me a discount because of a little mud. (I know I've returned it once or twice about the same way, and they never even mentioned about charging me a cleanup fee, and I was more than prepared to pay it.) When I mentioned to the rental guys about maybe buying a used one, they told me to let them know what/when, and they will get a couple brought in from other dealers in Ontario if necessary for me to look over and demo, etc. That in itself appeals to me, I really don't want to be driving hours and hours all over looking for a specific machine.

Yep, Cat has superior service second to none. For us, the branch that's about 35 minutes away takes care of whatever we need. I know all the truck drivers by name and whenever I see them delivering machines in my area it's always the friendly wave. It's just nice to know who's working to serve you and it's tough to find that kind of service anywhere else.